Head of Network Infrastructure Operations

Overview

Operational Excellence & NOC Management

• Lead and oversee the 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC) to ensure proactive monitoring and rapid incident response.
• Establish, measure, and continuously improve network Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Service Level Objectives (SLOs).
• Manage engineering teams operating in high-pressure, mission-critical environments with strict uptime requirements.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders and event organizers to translate operational requirements into technical network solutions.
• Lead the response to major incidents and ensure detailed Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and corrective action plans are completed.

Strategic Infrastructure Roadmap

• Develop and execute the long-term network infrastructure strategy.
• Design and implement scalable enterprise network architectures across LAN, WAN, Data Center, and Cloud environments.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies such as SD-WAN, WiFi 6E, and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
• Lead infrastructure transformation initiatives, including the retirement of legacy platforms and migration to modern network technologies.

Network Automation & Innovation

• Drive automation initiatives to reduce manual operational activities and improve efficiency.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and automated change management processes for network operations.
• Standardize infrastructure deployment and configuration management using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, and Python.
• Promote innovation and continuous improvement across network engineering and operations teams.

Risk Management & Security Compliance

• Partner with Information Security teams to implement Zero Trust networking principles and enterprise firewall policies.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory frameworks including ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
• Develop and maintain disaster recovery (DR) strategies and business continuity plans.
• Conduct regular testing and validation of recovery procedures and operational resilience capabilities.

Financial & Vendor Management

• Own and manage annual network infrastructure CAPEX and OPEX budgets.
• Lead negotiations with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hardware vendors, and managed service providers.
• Manage vendor performance and conduct regular business reviews with strategic technology partners.
• Ensure investments deliver measurable business value and operational efficiency.

Experience

• 12–15 years of experience in Network Engineering, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership position.
• Proven experience managing large-scale, multi-vendor enterprise network environments including Cisco, Arista, HPE, and related technologies.
• Deep expertise in global backbone and enterprise networking technologies, including BGP, MPLS, SD-WAN, and VXLAN.
• Strong experience with hybrid cloud connectivity solutions, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP), AWS Direct Connect, and Azure ExpressRoute.
• Proven hands-on experience with data center networking technologies, including Cisco ACI, Cisco Nexus Switching, Cisco UCS, and VMware NSX.

Competencies

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• Valid CCIE Certification (Mandatory).
• Expert-level knowledge of centralized network controllers and software-defined fabrics such as Cisco ACI, VMware NSX, or equivalent technologies.
• Deep expertise in enterprise and service provider routing protocols including BGP, OSPF, and EVPN.
• Strong understanding of encapsulation and transport technologies such as VXLAN and MPLS.
• Proven ability to design and manage virtual overlays, logical network segmentation, and micro-segmentation security policies.
• Strong knowledge of network automation and orchestration using Python, Ansible, Terraform, and related technologies.
• Advanced expertise in Layer 4–Layer 7 technologies including load balancing, traffic engineering, and Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB).
• Expertise in integrating firewalls, IDS/IPS solutions, and Zero Trust security frameworks within enterprise network architectures.
• Advanced knowledge of deep packet inspection, flow telemetry, network observability, and proactive performance monitoring.
• Ability to optimize latency, throughput, availability, and overall network performance.

Preferred Certifications

• CCNP
• ITIL Foundation
• PMP